Death toll may cross 10,000: U'khand Assembly Speaker
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Dehradun: Two weeks after flashfloods and landslides ravaged Uttarakhand, there were conflicting figures of death toll with state Assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal claiming today that it may cross 10,000 while the official figure is under 1,000.
Rescue work in Badrinath area resumed during the day after some delay due to bad weather and 1,313 pilgrims including some villagers were evacuated, 600 by helicopters and the remaining by road, Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar told reporters in Dehradun. He said about 500 people still remain to be evacuated.
Efforts are also being made on a war-footing to ensure supply of essential relief material to over 600 villages in Rudraprayag, Chamoli and Uttarkashi districts, which are cut off after the floods. 2,379 metric tonnes of wheat and 2,875 metric tonnes of rice has so far been dispatched to these villages.
The frequently changing weather is hampering work as the relief material can be supplied only by air, the officials said. In Almora, Kunjwal claimed that the death toll can cross 10,000. The official figure is 822.
"Earlier when I returned from a tour of Garhwal region I believed the casualty figure could be 4,000 to 5,000. But now as per my information and bodies being seen by the people, I can say the figure can cross the 10,000 mark," Kunjwal told reporters.
Though refusing to quantify casualties even 14 days after the tragedy, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has been saying it is feared over 1,000 people may have perished in the calamity. According to him, the exact number of people killed will be known only after the removal of debris left behind by the gushing waters and landslides.
The Chief Secretary said a clearer picture will emerge in a couple of days as the figure of missing persons, said to be around 3,000, is being ascertained with several cases of duplication. Road network in Uttarakhand has been badly damaged in the floods, with 259 roads damaged in Tehri, 139 in Dehradun, 132 in Uttarkashi, 110 in Chamoli and 71 in Rudraparayag district.
Over 200 families living along the banks of Bhagirathi river have been asked to move to safer places following a rise in water level. The MeT department, however, has sought to allay apprehensions, stating that the water level rise is mainly due to melting of glaciers with the sun showing up, and that there is no flood threat.
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